Order of Marauders
Life is often difficult, but much of religion is about finding a reason to rise above the animal nature. Sadly, many people do not. They adopt a 'dog eat dog world' mentality and justify their usually selfish actions by putting all the blame on other people or the world at large. No matter what, a Marauder simply will not admit that they are the cause for so much of the wrong in their own life. Marauders will often live as solitary hunters (living a regular life by day but that of a bandit by night) or work together in small groups called Packs. Marauder Packs frequently harass Adept Squads and can be a real pain. Such Packs will setup shop in a haven, a defensible home base from which they can saunter out to make raids and attack targets of opportunity. Aspect Of God: Distant Deity Aka: The Sociopaths, the Narcissists. Marauder Degrees Mark of Cain Facts: -Marauders are dangerous individuals, no matter how civilized they may appear on the outside, on the inside they are savages. -The phrase 'no honor among thieves' applies to the Marauders. When the dominant mentality is to do whatever it takes to put yourself first, the ability to trust and build team ship tends to fall apart at even the slightest hint of trouble ahead. -Marauders are distrusted by the others. Even their fellow Heretical Orders keep a distance from them. -Like the Waywards and Bystanders, the Marauders are considered a 'half-Order.' People in them are not expected to remain there indefinitely. The entire Order is a sort of a moral training ground. Most Marauders who remain Marauders will eventually devolve into paranoid beasts towards the end of their (often short) lives. -Wherever there is a culture or ideology or circumstances that breed the mentality that one has to be totally ruthless just to survive, you will see Marauders popping up. -Marauders live on the fringes of Adept society. What little interaction they do have tends to be when they attack fellow Adepts. Adepts aren't keen on fighting fellow Adepts, but Marauders by their actions often force the issue. -Marauders are formed theologically because they see God as distant. They do believe in a Creator, but He is uninvolved or disinterested. Morality is effectively useless. This doesn't necessarily mean the Marauder sees God as unjust or cruel, only that for whatever reason He made the world this particular way. Some of them see God positively or at least are thankful for the chance to exist at all. It's usually these initial sentiments that allow a Marauder to begin maturing, eventually leaving the Order for something better. -Marauders can't get other Adepts to trust them, not even the Fallen. They are moderately numerous, so there's usually enough of them around that they can find one another and form loose gangs. However, because of their nature, they can never fully trust each other and the team is always one hair's breath away from fracturing from within. -Marauders are just that, marauders who are always on the lookout for an angle to use or something to steal. They say life on the streets is hard and it's every man for himself. -Marauders posses a smattering of specific powers, but many of them revolve around the concept of Fear. This shouldn't come as a surprise since its the fear of life that causes many to adopt this Order's Aspect as the base philosophy of their lives. -The Marauder Order possesses only the most minimal of inter-Order infrastructure. They don't use Titles or have Factions, nor do they participate in Chapters. They do have the Martial Traditions, however, and in place of Factions they have 'Professions.' -Marauders may not be the servants of the Light they should be, but neither are they servants of the Darkness. They stand for themselves, and distrust Infernals and other servants of the Darkness simply because they see such creatures as threats to their own well-being. While other Adepts would contend they still serve the Darkness anyway, the Marauders see themselves as neutral. -The Marauders actually consider themselves to be one of the Military Orders, although the actual Military Orders reject them as members. This causes the Marauders to appear as a semi or pseudo-Military Order in the eyes of other Adepts. -Marauders are the masters of fear, but are themselves afraid of the Destroyers. Marauder powers tend to fail against beings who have no emotion, and Destroyers have reduced emotions. Because of that, many Marauder powers fail when used against the Black Order. -Because they are the Masters of Fear, the Marauders have a strange relationship with the Order of Courtesans, who are based on the concept of Love. Many Marauders enjoy using their powers to frighten and intimidate the Courtesans, but many Courtesans have summoned the power of Love to overcome Fear and beat the Marauders at their own game. The two Orders are born rivals. -Marauder Packs are run loosely, with leadership based on the lead Marauder's ability to lead the rest to booty or against enemies of the pack. If a Pack leader continuously fails to do either, he could soon find himself forced into early retirement. -Marauders are immune to the powers of Idols. -The Marauders associate with the biblical figure of Cain. Many believe that Cain was a member of their Order. Professions: The Marauders aren't organized enough to have special-interest groups within their Order. Instead, they often differentiate among themselves by identifying with their preferred method of employment. -Thieves = These Marauders make a living as the professional thieves among the Established Orders. -Bandits = Highwaymen who lie in wait to ambush and steal from others. -Rustlers = They steal from the homes of others, either when the tenant is away or after they've been incapacitated somehow. -Stalkers = They stalk targets for days or weeks, wearing them down with their powers of fear, until they are ready to strike. -Cannibals = These are the rarest and the worst of the Order. They have fallen so far from the Light that they have taken up the abominable practice of eating the flesh of their own kind to gain strength. These Marauders, when discovered, are hunted to the ends of the earth by the other Orders. Cannibals are usually found in isolated places, or in areas of extreme urban decay and social breakdown. Masters of Fear: Marauders are the self-styled Masters of Fear, and other Supernaturals who are associated with the concept of Fear will normally look favorably upon the Order. -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear -http://horror.wikia.com/wiki/Horror_Film_Wiki References: -https://www.pinterest.com/benjaminstyles7/order-of-marauders/ -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marauder Video: